Minneapolis Connects December Newsletter

City of Minneapolis sent this bulletin at 12/06/2018 01:30 PM CST

December 6, 2018

Call for Exhibitors at the Community Connections Conference

NCR invites you to join us as an exhibitor at the 2019 Community Connections Conference on Saturday, February 2 in the Minneapolis Convention Center, lower level, in Hall A. The conference brings together neighborhoods, communities, residents and local government to make connections and build capacity during a day of interactive exhibits, workshops, round tables and an opening panel.

Exhibitor space is free for nonprofits and public entities. For-profit exhibitors or any exhibitor selling a product must pay $100 and provide the payment receipt number at the time of registration. If this applies to you, read the payment instructions here...

Update on Neighborhoods 2020

Each of the Neighborhoods 2020 work groups published their first draft of policy recommendations in mid-November and the group held a series of five community meetings to solicit feedback. The three draft documents can be found on Minneapolismn.gov/ncr/2020 and cover citywide community engagement policy, neighborhood funding and program guidelines and the governance structure of the neighborhood organization system as a whole.

Once the feedback from these community meetings has been incorporated into the work group recommendations, City staff from multiple departments will draft additional recommendations, and each work group will publish a second draft in mid-January. Public comment will open for 45 days before a final draft of the policy recommendations is submitted to City Council in March 2019. View the timeline...

Christine McDonald Honored for Outstanding Dedication to the Community

On Dec. 3, 2018 the Minneapolis Police Department honored NCR staff member and American Indian Community Specialist Christine McDonald with a Chief’s Award of Merit at the MPD annual awards ceremony in City Hall for her outstanding work and dedication to the community. Christine was recognized for her advisory role in the development of the community navigator position at MPD. The community navigators are a group of civilian liaisons who respond to situations where traditional police may not be necessary. They work on many issues ranging from the opioid epidemic to homelessness.

The first four community navigators have been hired as liaisons with the Native American, African American, Somali and Latino communities. These civilian MPD positions are intended to help build relationships, trust and confidence in the work of the Police Department.

Building a Community of Voters in Kingfield Neighborhood

Neighborhood organizations engage residents in the decision-making that affects them at the most local level, encourage community-building among neighbors and share important information. Kingfield Neighborhood Association (KFNA)'s executive director, Sarah Linnes-Robinson, believes that, "neighborhood organizations can play an important role...by reminding our neighbors that voting is... about coming together as a community. KFNA has embraced this message in a comprehensive get-out-the-vote campaign aimed at creating a community of voters in our neighborhood."

Polling Place PartiesSince 2012, KFNA has partnered with local businesses to set up tents stocked with free hot coffee and tasty treats at MLK park, the local polling place, for each general election, and in 2018, for both the primary and general elections. Volunteers thank neighbors for voting and snap photos of voters holding a large “I Voted” sign as part of their social media campaign (see the 2016 voter collage above). At this year's Polling Place Party, Kingfield asked neighbors “Why do you vote?” You can watch the series of 10-second video responses from voters on KFNA's social media here.

"We are Kingfield – We Vote"KFNA built on the success of the Polling Place Parties with their “We are Kingfield – We Vote” yard sign campaign, which produced 500 reusable yard signs reminding neighbors that everyone in Kingfield votes at MLK Park. Volunteers recruited neighbors to place the signs in their yards in the weeks leading up to the election, strategically focusing on corner properties and homes across from large apartment buildings. Volunteers collected the signs after the 2017 election and updated and reused the collection in 2018. Today, KFNA is getting them ready for 2020.

Neighborhood block captainsIn 2018, KFNA recruited block captains for 30 blocks in the neighborhood. Each block captain was trained in get-out-the-vote canvassing, encouraging each neighbor on their block to vote and emphasizing just how important voting is to being a member of the Kingfield community.

"Together, these strategies have reinvigorated Kingfield as a community of voters, and helped our neighborhood increase turnout by twenty percentage points between 2014 and 2018...We would love to support other neighborhood organizations in developing a community of voters in their own neighborhoods through early and direct outreach and simple community organizing tactics," says Linnes-Robinson. To learn more about KFNA and voter engagement, you can connect with Linnes-Robinson via email at sarah@kingfield.org or 612-823-5980 by phone.

Ten Organizations Receive One Minneapolis Fund Awards

NCR is pleased to announce that the City Council approved funding for ten exciting projects focused on leadership development in communities that are underrepresented in City and neighborhood boards and commissions. In total, the One Minneapolis Fund will disburse $182,000 this year to the funding recipients. Project summaries:

One Family One Community, to train low-income renters and Northside residents to serve on City boards and commissions, neighborhood association boards and other City programs and activities.

RECLAIM, for the "Art Heals" project linking LGBTQ+ youth to community artists and mentorship, culminating in an evening of community celebration of healing through art.

The SEAD Project, to work with Southeast Asian youth through a leadership development program for students.

Little Earth Residents Association, to train and develop residents of the Little Earth community and surrounding East Phillips neighborhood to serve on City boards and commissions and neighborhood association boards.

Inquilinxs Unidxs por Justicia, to build a People's Institute, in conjunction with CTUL (Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha) to build the capacity of Latinx tenants to organize around tenants' rights.

HACER, for leadership training workshops for Latinos in Minneapolis to serve on City boards and commissions and neighborhood association boards.

The Bridge for Youth, for The Youth Leadership Development Project, a program that will provide training, skills development and leadership opportunities for homeless youth.

Lake Street Council, to bring small entrepreneurs of color, immigrant business owners and City representatives together to develop policy and programs to reduce the racial disparities of owning a business in Minneapolis.

Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition, for the TRANSit Project, a program that will work with a network of Transgender artists, activists, athletes and academics who are people of color who will support each other in leadership development and community engagement in the City of Minneapolis.

Goodbye, CARAG. Hello, South Uptown!

At the September 2018 annual meeting, the Calhoun Area Residents Action Group (CARAG) membership voted to recommend changing the name of the CARAG neighborhood to South Uptown. The name won out over several other proposed names gathered over an extensive 9-month-long outreach campaign. City Council has now approved the new neighborhood name. Read more on the South Uptown Neighborhood Association website...

City Council passes policy protecting tenants around complaints about chronic criminal, disruptive conduct in rental housing

The City Council passed a measure reforming the way the City works with landlords and renters when complaints are made about disruptive criminal and nuisance conduct to provide more protections for tenants and resources for landlords to resolve problems.

A 911 call reporting domestic violence, domestic abuse, a health-related emergency or any other similar tenant assistance response will not trigger a complaint under the ordinance.

When a Minneapolis Police Department crime prevention specialist determines that an incident at a rental property requires City intervention after reviewing a police report, a letter is sent to both the landlord and the tenant about what needs to be done to resolve the issues.

A new interdisciplinary panel convened by the City’s Regulatory Services Department will review the issues and help determine a community-centered approach that encourages landlords and tenants to resolve problems with a goal of discouraging unnecessary tenant displacement.

The changes were prompted by a study conducted by the Civil Rights Department’s Office of Police Conduct Review commissioned by the Police Conduct Oversight Commission recommending changes to prevent tenants from unfairly being evicted from rental housing determined to be “nuisance” or “problem properties.” Following the release of the study, a large work group made up of City staff from several departments worked with community stakeholders to come up with the new process. Read more...

Sign up now, stay informed all winter

You have many ways to find out when a snow emergency is declared and what the rules are for each day to avoid being towed.

Call the snow emergency hotline at 612-348-SNOW in English, Spanish, Somali and Hmong.

Thank you and good luck, Abdirashid.

After serving as East African Community Specialist for NCR for four-and-a-half years, Abdirashid Ahmed has moved on to a new role. This November, he wrapped up a seven-month stay in Somalia for a World Bank and USAID funded project related to community engagement. He lent his expertise to the Office of the Prime Minister of Somalia as an embedded USAID employee, providing insight on how to strengthen the relationship between public institutions and the people they serve. Abdirashid will continue his important work with the Office of the Prime Minister of Somalia in this next chapter of his career. NCR thanks Abdirashid for his years at the City of Minneapolis and wishes him well in his new role.

Minneapolis Connects is published by the City of Minneapolis Neighborhood and Community Relations department (NCR). If you have stories or community events that should be included in next month's edition, email rebekah.tedrick-moutz@minneapolismn.gov.

For questions, accommodations or alternative formats, please contact Neighborhood and Community Relations at 612-673-3737 or email us at ncr@minneapolismn.gov. People who are deaf or hard of hearing can use a relay service to call 311 agents at 612-673-3000. TTY users can call 612-673-2157 or 612-673-2626.